Rebecca Stead - When You Reach Me (2009)

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Einstein says common sense is just habit of thought. It's how we're used to thinking about things, but a lot of the time it just gets in the way.

Rebecca Stead
Trying to forget really doesn't work. In fact, it's pretty much the same as remembering. But I tried to forget anyway, and to ignore the fact that I was remembering you all the time.

Rebecca Stead
She's called the secretary, but as far as I can tell she basically runs the school.

Rebecca Stead
Didn't you ever have a father yourself? You don't want him for a reason. You want him because he's your father.' So I figured it's because I never had a father that I don't want one now. A person can't miss something she never had.

Rebecca Stead
I don't know. I just feel stuck, like I'm afraid to take any steps, in case they're the wrong ones.

Rebecca Stead
I still think about the letter you asked me to write. It nags at me, even though you're gone and there's no one to give it to anymore. Sometimes I work on it in my head, trying to map out the story you asked me to tell, about everything that happened this past fall and winter. It's all still there, like a movie I can watch when I want to. Which is never.

Rebecca Stead
Sometimes you never feel meaner than the moment you stop being mean.

Rebecca Stead
If I'm afraid of someone on the street, I'll turn to him (it's always a boy) and say, "Excuse me, do you happen to know what time it is?" This is my way of saying to the person, "I see you as a friend, and there is no need to hurt me or take my stuff. Also, I don't even have a watch and I am probably not worth mugging." So far, it's worked like gangbusters... And I've discovered that most people I'm afraid of are actually very friendly.

Rebecca Stead
Well, it's simple to love someone," she said. "But it's hard to know when you need to say it out loud.

Rebecca Stead
Nice tights," I snorted. Or I tried to snort, anyway. I'm not exactly sure how, though people in books are always doing it.

Rebecca Stead